---
layout: docs
page_title: 'nomad operator gossip keyring generate command reference'
description: >
  The `nomad operator gossip keyring generate` command generates an encryption key that can be used for
  Nomad server's gossip traffic encryption. The keygen command uses a
  cryptographically strong pseudo-random number generator to generate the key.
---

# nomad operator gossip keyring generate reference

The `operator gossip keyring generate` command generates an encryption
key that can be used for Nomad server's gossip traffic encryption. The
keygen command uses a cryptographically strong pseudo-random number
generator to generate the key.

The resulting key is encoded in the [RFC4648] "URL and filename safe"
base64 alphabet. If you use another tool such as OpenSSL to generate
the gossip key, you should pipe the input through the `base64(1)`
command to ensure it is safely encoded. For example: `openssl rand 32
| base64`

## Usage

```plaintext
nomad operator gossip keyring generate
```

## Example

```shell-session
$ nomad operator gossip keyring generate
6RhfKFZ5uYEaU6RgWzx69ssLcpiIkvnEZs5KBOQxvxA=
```

[rfc4648]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4648#section-5
